Dean dyed his hair but the actings no gimmickry: just look at his hard-drinking tycoon, harried by demons and love for Liz Taylor. Even when hes not doing anything, you watch him and not the others.

So says Elizabeth Bennet in this glossy literary adaptation, and indeed, it seemed as though Knightley was the perfectly natural choice to play the Austen heroine.

Prim, poised and softly spoken, nobody would have suspected that Knightleys actual voice is far less received Shes taken her fair share of flack for her acting abilities over the years, but director Joe Wright coaxes a spirited and sweet-natured performance from Knightley that seems to have been forgotten in the wake of Pirates etc.

Also See: Tom Ripley ( Three months in the gym, Bret Easton Ellis deadpan novel plus a dose of Hitchcock and Polanski films were all it took for Christian Bale to disappear into the role of soulsick Wall Street yuppie turned misogynist killer Patrick Bateman. The actor seems to share a funny, frightening affinity with Batemans fear and loathing. But it was because he thinks hes so fucking cool and just the shit, but is really such a cheesy dork. Greatest Moment: That Hip To Be Square axe murder: Try getting a reservation at Dorsia now! Also See: Sukie Ridgemont ( For Cody Jarrett, Cagney rolls up every iconic gangster he played in the 30s into one strutting, snarling, raging ball--and tosses into the mix the most explicit Oedipus complex in cinema (critic Colin Mc Arthur).

Hed walk on to set, recalls his co-star, and turn into this vicious guy who tried to cut you down at the knees.

Greatest Moment: The USS Indianapolis monologue, a speech that Shaw wrote himself.

Refusing to shy away from any of Bronsons more out-there behaviour (he spends a good deal of the film entirely naked), Hardy captures the big mans delusions of grandeur and warped sense of humour to a tee. I get to perform a larger-than-life character, and I get to hit everyone in the film!

Greatest Moment: Taking his art teacher hostage, before stripping naked, painting himself black and waiting to meet the oncoming guards Also See: Eames ( Eleven hundred men went in the water, 316 come out.

Theres not a reliable or healthy relationship in the film, noted film critic David Thompson. Also See: Tom Powers ( Playing a typical Disney Princess transported into modern day New York, Adams cranks up the charm to irresistible levels, her innocent naivety never straying into the arena of the irritating.

Aw, but the boy loved his mother Greatest Moment: Gotta be the ending: Made it, Ma! I think that Ive always been attracted to characters who are positive, mused the actress, and who come from a very innocent place.

It sounds like a perfect fit then, although Adams still deserves credit for ensuring that a storyline that couldve become sickly remains bouncily enjoyable right until the last.